Bubak resigns from football staff

Courtesy: SDSU Sports Info Release: 04/25/2013 16:56:48

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South Dakota State University head coach John Stiegelmeier announced Thursday that co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Jay Bubak has submitted his resignation and will pursue other professional opportunities outside of coaching.

“It’s a major loss to our coaching staff,” Stiegelmeier said. “Jay was truly a difference maker for SDSU and Jackrabbit football. He did a great job in every phase — coaching, recruiting and mentoring.”

The longest-tenured assistant on Stiegelmeier’s coaching staff, Bubak joined the Jackrabbit football program in 2005 as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. From 2007-10 he coached the defensive backs before returning to coach the linebackers in 2011. SDSU compiled a 54-38 record in his eight seasons, winning the Great West Football Conference title in 2007 and qualifying for the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs in both 2009 and 2012. The 2012 squad tied a school record with nine victories and recorded its first-ever playoff victory with a 58-10 defeat of Eastern Illinois.

Under Bubak’s guidance the Jackrabbit defense ranked among the FCS’s top 20 in several categories during the two playoff seasons. In 2009, SDSU finished fourth in pass efficiency defense (99.55), along with a 14th-place ranking in rushing defense with an average of 104.33 yards per game. The Jackrabbits also ranked 16th in scoring defense (17.4 points per game) and 17th in total defense (289.5 yards per game).

The 2012 squad improved on many of those numbers, again ranking fourth in pass efficiency defense (100.33), while moving into the top 10 for scoring defense (fifth, 16.38 points per game) and total defense (eighth, 305.3 yards per game). As a result, Buabak was named a finalist for the Football Championships Subdivision Assistant Coach of the Year Award presented by the American Football Coaches Association.

A 1993 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University, Bubak began his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater before stints at South Dakota (1996-98) and Missouri Western State (1999-2004).